How Time Flies - Another Year is Almost Behind Us

Doesn't it seem to you like it was only yesterday when we were all panicking over whether the world would come to an end at midnight on New Year's Eve, whether airplanes would drop out of the sky, power stations would stop working, and most importantly our beloved computers would cease to function.

Isn't it amazing to think that as this year 2010 is coming to an end, that the worldwide panic over Y2K wasn't just ten years ago, it was actually 11 years ago. Doesn't it just seem in some ways though as if it was just yesterday?

So many things have happened though over the last eleven years. If someone awoke from a coma today I think that they would hardly recognize the world as we know it, so much has changed in just a few short years.

One of the hardest things I think for someone to understand is how the threat of terrorism has changed our lives since the year 2000.

Above all it would be hard for them to fathom that the events of 9-11 were real and not taken from some apocalyptic disaster movie. Until that is they see how hard it is to travel these days, and experience all the additional security checks that we have to go through.

Then of course technology has leaped forward in the last eleven years.

Back then cell phones were becoming smaller, but texting was virtually unheard of. Now our cell phones are also cameras, video recorders, media players, and portable computers with GPS and so much more.

The CD based Discman had replaced the cassette based Walkman, but now you can store a months worth of music on an iPod that has a hard drive built in.

Our personal computers have taken a huge leap forward from the days when a 15 inch monitor, or a 17 inch one that took up a whole desk, were attached to a desktop system, which required you to connect to the internet with a squawking screeching modem, that was often as slow as molasses. Not only that, unless you had a second phone line, nobody could call the house when you were online, and if they did, chances were it would boot you offline.

Now many people are using laptop computers or iPads, which not only are powered by battery, they are connected to the internet wirelessly, and the connection speed is fast enough to be able to download and play movies in high definition. I wonder if we were told just eleven short years ago that this is what the future held.

Televisions too have seen a huge leap forward, with many programs being broadcast in high definition, the big fat heavy television sets being replaced by even larger screens but so thin in comparison to the old ones.

Cable and satellite transmissions now go to a TVR box that allows us to record not only individual programs, but every episode in a series. Back in the year 2000 we struggled to set up our VCR's if we were going on vacation, so that we didn't miss a couple of our favorite shows.

Sports on television now allows multiple angles to be viewed, and virtually instant replays as well. Watching some games in high definition with a dozen or more cameras capturing different aspects of the game, well it just didn't seem possible back then did it.

Another change in sports is that often women are doing the interviewing these days. With games like Football and Baseball I don't think that it could have been imagined that we would have women talking about what are primarily manly games.

In some ways the world has definitely changed for the better in the last eleven years, but in other ways I think not.

Politically and economically, so many countries are in financial ruin, and are struggling to survive. Many companies have been sold to new owners from overseas, both in the USA and the UK, and unemployment levels have risen sharply, and are still rising.

People generally feel less secure than they did back then, because of the threat of terrorism, unemployment, and also because the legendary 2012 date that predicts the end of the world is getting closer.

The threat of Global Warming and the current changes in the climate in many parts of the world certainly don't make me feel at ease. The world has seen it's share of major disasters over the last few years as well.

So how do you feel about the last eleven years. Have these gone by fast for you? Have you noticed many changes in the way that we live? Do you feel more secure, or less secure?

Please feel free to leave a comment and let others know what you feel.

Sources:

Personal experience and opinion.

You can read more of my articles on my blog Off The Record With Debbie And Tony.